Tuesday 17th May 2016 (updated)

It really felt like we were on the final sprint of the holiday now; ahead of us lay our final trip on a bullet train, we had already sent our bags on ahead they day before. All we had to do now was get ourselves up in time for breakfast at half seven, where we had chickened out and ordered a European breakfast instead of a Japanese one. The main difference being we vaguely recognised some of the stuff we were served, the main part of which was omelette.

I think there was always some stress in arranging travel in a strange company. And we had done a lot of traveling around the country; booking seats, arranging transfer of our bags, and all the while not speaking Japanese. But it worked, and people were so nice, and somehow, every time, even when we could not speak Japanese, and the other could speak no English, we made ourselves understood. And so we were happy. And relieved I think to be going back to Tokyo.

It was a sad parting, once we had packed and Jools and Jen went paddling in the hot spring, it was time to go. All the staff lined up and we all bowed to each other, they really seemed to have enjoyed having us stay, and all three of us found ourselves almost crying as the bus whisked us away.

We had to queue outside the station, then 15 minutes before departure we were allowed onto the platform, so we could queue where there were markings, all in neat lines. We were in the rear carriage, and as it turned out, in the very rear two seats of that carriage. Behind us was the rear cab of the train, which we were able to see the tracks behind, although the guard didn't seem to appreciate us looking at him, and stood up if we looked too much, thus blocking the view. It seemed that we had been given first class tickets this time, as there were only three seats in each row, and we seemed to have so much room.

The train pulled away, two minutes late, but I suppose we made up time as it was downhill pretty much all the way, and we rattled along at a fair pace going through the 28 major tunnels on the line. As we descended the gorge, the weather got better and better; the sun came out and the land looked so full of life.

Here is a video of the whole four hour trip: amazing that we rode on this train!

I had looked forward to the journeys as much as our destinations, and so it was with this trip. Going down the gorge with its incredible views and infrastructure. Jools tried to stay awake. She told me she did, but the clackity clack over the jointed track was like the ticking of a clock, and even after a while my eyes began to close. But then a view would open up, or we would arrive in a town and there would be something to see.

Once we had left the gorge, and were crossing the fertile farmland again, the sun was very warm indeed, and we hoped that this would continue on our next leg up to Tokyo so we could see Mt. Fuji, but the forecast was for rain and drizzle further north.

Once in Nagoya, we had 20 minutes to get to the right platform, time enough to go to a cabin and buy some snacks for lunch as we zoomed to Tokyo. We all bought sandwiches and some crunchy snacks, then took up position near to the entrance where our carriage would stop. I had seen enough bullet trains so that I didn't go to the end of the platform to take any shots. Such is the way.

Our train arrives, and we get on with no fuss, finding our reservations facing the direction of travel, of course. And then we could tuck into our lunch, as we powered along at nearly 200 mph. I was happy.

Sadly, as we went north, the weather got worse and worse, and by the time we were where I had worked out where Mt. Fuji should have been visible from the train, cloud level was about 100m if that. So no volcano this day, and unlikely to see it before we leave, sadly. Always next time I suppose.

We arrived in Tokyo dead on time, and once off the train we walked to the taxi rank and waited in line for our turn. Trust us to get the one driver who did not have the Knowledge, and even presenting him with the address in Japanese, he did not recognise it, and even with sat nav, he was struggling. He got in roughly the right area, so we set off into the steady drizzle falling .

We were staying at the Park Hotel, and after driving round for ten minutes, he dropped us off at where he said our hotel was, the Royal Park Hotel. It was owned by the same chain we had stayed in twice earlier, so seemed right.

But, once we got to the lobby on the top floor, the staff smiled and said that this wasn't the right hotel. She assured us it was nearby, and she said some directions which seemed simple enough.

But with the rain falling harder, each skyscraper surrounding the walkway we found ourselves on all looked the same, but we did know that at the top of one there were rooms for us. From the directions given, it should have been the one we were sheltering in the lea of. I said I would go round and see if it was the place. The rain fell harder and harder, and I was getting damper and damper. I had to walk round three sides of the building until I found an entrance. I go in and ask at reception if this was the Media Building. It wasn't. Where is it? You have to go outside, she said.

I go back outside and the rain was hammering down. My coat is in one of the rooms high above me, so I got wet. Very wet.

I had no idea, and was about to admit to Jools and Jen that I could not find it, I looked over glass wall of the walkway, and on the entrance to the building on the other side of the road, I see the name of the hotel we were looking for.

I wave to them to come over, and together we walk over the walkway to the entrance and take the lift to the lobby on the 25th floor, where the lobby was, and the hotel began.

We get keys to the rooms, both on the 31st floor, so take our soaking asses into another lift and go up. We open the door to our room to find the walls were covered in Japanese Pop Art; seems that this was an ongoing project for the hotel to get leading artists to decorate rooms in the hotel. It was bright and busy, but we came to like it. And out of the huge window, we could see all the way to the ground 31 floors below, and the trains and monorails rattling along far, far below. I wish I could sit at that window every day, to see how the light changes and just to watch the trains come and go.

A few hours later, we go out to look for a place for dinner, and on the plaza below, we find an English pub with an Italian place beside it. That'll do. We go into the pub for a swifter, and find it a mix of locals and European ex-pats. Their beer was good, which was important, clearly. We get talking to a chap from south London who had lived in Tokyo for 25 years. He said he enjoyed it there, and why would he lie. But the fact he spent a lot of his spare time in an English style pub, all faux Victorian fittings built into the ground floor of a modern office block.

We went next door, and although the wine and pasta were good, not the best Italian we had on the trip, not by a long chalk.

Afterwards, I say I will wander about to take some shots using the wide angle as buildings tower above us on all sides, with more behind in the gaps. I snap away, but as I am still unused to the area, I go upstairs to try the whisky bar out and find it empty, bar for the tender. I order a Japanese malt, and take a set in the corner at the edge of the large picture window, with the big city lit up like Christmas outside. It feels like a scene from Lost in Translation, and it pretty much one of the things I wanted to do on the trip.

I order a second whisky, then call it a night, meeting Jools back in the room where it is the final case packing time.

One more day......